Greek Ideas That Last

流传至今的希腊思想 · Ancient Greece, part 2

The Olympic Games

• The first recorded Olympic GamesOlympic Games 奥林匹克运动会Sports contests at Olympia every four years, to honor Zeus.History Vocab ↗ were in 776 BC, at Olympia.
• They were held every four years, to honor Zeus.
• Athletes came from many city-statescity-state 城邦A city and the land around it, with its own government.History Vocab ↗.
• The oldest event was a running race, about 190 meters.

Runners painted on a Greek vase, about 500 BC.

The modern Olympics started in 1896 in Athens, copying the ancient idea. At some Greek games, winners got prize jars of olive oil painted with their sport.

Gods and myths

• The Greeks believed the most important gods lived on Mount Olympus.
• A mythmyth 神话A traditional story about gods and heroes.History Vocab ↗ is a story about gods and heroes. Myths explained thunder, the seasons and the sea.

God	In charge of	中文
Zeus	the sky and thunder; king of the gods	宙斯
Athena	wisdom; protector of Athens	雅典娜
Poseidon	the sea and earthquakes	波塞冬

The Greek Gods fact cards (reference) have three more gods, and a blank card to design your own.

The Odyssey: ten years to get home

The Odyssey is a long poem by Homer, about 2,700 years old. It’s a mythmyth 神话A traditional story about gods and heroes.History Vocab ↗ about the hero Odysseus.

After the Trojan War, his trip home takes ten years: monsters, a witch, a giant, and the gods against him.

Press Play, or hover a stop.

Think

Which stop would scare you the most? Why?

The map is a story map: the places come from the poem, and nobody knows exactly where they were. Ask students to pick a stop and retell it in two sentences, then share with a partner.

Watch: the Odyssey in five minutes

Video (shown in class)

▶ TED-Ed, Everything you need to know to read Homer’s “Odyssey”, 5 minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z9FQxcCAZ0

TED-Ed, Everything you need to know to read Homer’s “Odyssey” (Jill Dash). If YouTube is blocked where you are, use a video file you’re allowed to show instead: {{< video odyssey.mp4 >}}.

Embedded video: one line, {{< video https://www.youtube.com/embed/... >}}. It plays right in the slide. Before watching: “Listen for two stops from the map.”

Thinkers who asked big questions

• Socrates · Taught by asking questions: What is fair? What is a good life?
• Plato · Socrates’ student. Wrote down his teacher’s ideas and started a school.
• Aristotle · Plato’s student. Studied everything from animals to government.

A philosopherphilosopher 哲学家A thinker who asks big questions about life and truth.History Vocab ↗ is a thinker who asks big questions about life and truth.

The School of Athens, painted by Raphael in about 1510. Plato and Aristotle stand in the middle.

Temples and columns

• The Parthenon is a templetemple 神庙A building where people worship a god or goddess.History Vocab ↗ to Athena, on the Acropolis hill in Athens.
• Its roof rested on rows of a columncolumn 柱子A tall post that holds up a roof.History Vocab ↗ style called Doric.
• Greek columnscolumn 柱子A tall post that holds up a roof.History Vocab ↗ came in three styles: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian.

column 柱子

A tall post that holds up a roof.

Ask: where in our city have you seen columns like these? (Banks, museums, government buildings.)

Three kinds of column

Which is which? Look at the tops.

Three kinds of column

• Doric: a plain, simple top. The Parthenon’s columns are Doric.
• Ionic: scrolls on top, like rolled-up paper.
• Corinthian: leaves carved on top. The fanciest of the three.

Auto-animate: these two slides share the same picture, so reveal.js glides it from the middle to the left instead of jumping. Just add {auto-animate="true"} to both slide titles.

Theater

• Greek plays were tragedies (sad endings) or comedies (funny).
• Actors wore masks, so one actor could play many characters.
• The theatertheater 剧场An outdoor place for plays, with seats in a half circle.History Vocab ↗ was built into a hillside: everyone could see and hear.

The theater at Epidaurus seats about 14,000 people. Photo: Olecorre, CC BY-SA 3.0.

English words from Greek theater: drama, scene, chorus, comedy, tragedy.

Match it

Tap a word, then tap its meaning.

A traditional story about gods and heroes.

A thinker who asks big questions about life and truth.

A building where people worship a god or goddess.

A tall post that holds up a roof.

An outdoor place for plays, with seats in a half circle.

Sports contests at Olympia every four years, to honor Zeus.

Interactive activity: this matching game is a small script in match/, reusable on any slide: just list the pairs. It’s review, so English only (no 中文). The slide PDF shows the answer key.

Quick check

The ancient Olympic Games were held in Athens.

False: they were held at Olympia. The first modern Olympics, in 1896, were in Athens.

Exit ticket

How well can you name three Greek ideas we still use?

Picture credits

• Title: Ulysses and the Sirens, John William Waterhouse (1891), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Runners vase: photo by Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
• The School of Athens: Raphael, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Theater of Epidaurus: photo by Olecorre, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
• Drawings and the Odyssey map: original, made for this course. Full list: images/CREDITS.md.